Drive of sheet-feeding device with sheetfeeders with printing machines



M y 9, 1 59 HANS-BERNHARD SCHUNEMANN 2,387,317

DRIVE 'OF SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE WITH SHEET-FEEDERS wmx PRINTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 11, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed Oct. L 1. 1955 May 19, 1959 NS'BERNHARD SCHUNEMANN 2,887,317

DRIVE SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE WITH SHEET-FEEDERS WITH PRINTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1959 HANS-BERNHARD SCHUNEMANN 2,887,317

SHEET-FEEDERS DRIVE OF SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE WITH WITH PRINTING MACHINES I Filed Oct. 11, 1955 DRIVE F SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE WITH SHEET FEEDERS WITH PRINTING Hans-Bernhard Schiinemann, Wurzburg, Germany, assignor to Schnellpressenfabrik Koenig & Bauer Aktiengesellschaft, Wurzburg, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application October 11, 1955, Serial No. 539,351 Claims priority, application Germany November 11, 1954 13 Claims. (Cl. 271-51) The invention relates to a drive for a rotary stopcylinder-like feeding means for sheet printing machines, which feeds a sheet directly from the feeding table to a uniformly rotating impression cylinder. The sheet feeding means attains upon sheet transfer the same speed of rotation as the impression cylinder. Therefore, it is customary to periodically drive it directly from the impression cylinder. In known devices of this sort the speed-up and slow down to stopping of the sheet feed is controlled by cams or eccentrics on the impression cylinder. It is, however, very difficult to construct such an eccentric control that is free from shocks. To avoid that difliculty, so-called Maltese cross gears have been used in which the driving plate is mounted on the preliminary grippers in advance of a feeding drum. The turntable of the Maltese cross gear is fixed onto the preliminary gripper spindle. Arrangements of this type, however, interfere withaccess to the feeding-table and limit the choice and the time lapse of the control mechanism.

According to the invention the stop-cylinder-like sheet feeding-drum is driven by a periodically driven intermediate reduction gear which is secured upon the turn table of a Maltese cross gear and which meshes with a uniformly rotating toothed segment that carries the pusher of the Maltese cross gear.

This arrangement affords a greater freedom of operation of the sheet feeding-drum including stops, starts and variable movement and a more certain drive of the Maltese cross gear during the variable movement. There is, furthermore, a more compact design for the switching gear and free access to the feeding-table is aiforded.

As an example of the invention, there is shown in the drawings a sheet feeding device for machines for printing sheets of relatively small circumferential size where in the feeding-drum expediently makes a half rotation.

In the schematic drawings there is shown the following:

Figure 1 shows a vertical section of the mechanism at the beginning of a cycle of operations;

Figure 2 shows a schematic presentationof the mechanism of Figure 1; and

Figures 3-5 show different positions of the drive mechanism and feeding-drum.

There is provided in a housing 35 a main drive shaft 34 having a gear 33 for driving an impression cylinder 3. The impression 3 cooperates with a plate cylinder,

not shown, for printing a sheet. Within the housing 35 there are arranged shafts or spindles 42, 43 and 44. Shaft 42 has mounted thereon the feeding or stopping drum 2 as will more fully be described. On shaft or spindle 43 is mounted intermediate reduction gear which meshes with drive gear 11 on feeding drum 2. A Maltese-cross generally indicated at M having a turntable 14 is mounted on a boss carried by spindle 43. The make up of the Maltese-cross M and the drive arrangement is described hereinafter in more detail. Shaft 44 8 and 9, gear 9 of which has mounted thereto a carrier alternately.

disk 21 having cam surfaces thereon and attached rolls 19 and 20 as will be described.

A feeding board 1 upon which a sheet is stopped delivers the sheet to the feeding drum 2 that has stopped to receive the same. The sheet is immediately forwarded by the drum 2 to the impression cylinder 3 and from the impression cylinder the sheet is conveyed to the de livery drum 4 which forwards it along to the sheet delivery (not shown). Drum 2 performs, as it is driven by the impression cylinder gearing, a periodically inter rupted rotation of half a revolution for each sheet-feed operation.

In Figure 4 there is shown schematically the relation ship of the drive gearing including flanks of the Maltesetype drive M associated with the intermediate reduction gear 10 carried on shaft 43. t The sheets positioned on feeding-table 1 are trans:

ferred immediately to the uniformly rotating impression cylinder 3 by means of the feeding-drurnZ and after being printed are forwarded by delivery drum 4: 'Feeding-drum 2 which rotates in stop cylinder fashion and which also could be called a stopping-drum] slows to stop after each working sequence. This feeding-drum 2 which operates each half a revolution has two alternately operated gripper sets 5, 6. The feeding drum 2 is being stopped after each working cycle. The feeding drum 2 makes only half a revolution per cycle of operation. Figure 1 shows the feeding drum 2 at the beginning of a working cycle. of a revolution of feeding drum 2, the gripper sets 5 transfer a sheet from feeding table 1 to impression cylinder 3. On impression cylinder 3 is one set of grippers 46 that seize the sheet, transferring it to delivery drum 4 which conveys the sheet further in any known manner..

At the following rest of feeding drum 2, the other gripper sets 6 are at feeding table 1 as shown in Figure 5. The next working cycle then takes place whereupon the feeding drum 2 revolves again half a revolution transferring the sheet to the gripper set 46 on the im-- pression cylinder 3. The gripper sets 5 and 6 thus work the feeding-drum 2 is driven indirectly by the gear 7 of the impression cylinder 3 via the gears 8, 9, 10 and 11. Gear 7 is in mesh with drive gear 8 keyed on the shaft 44 of the delivery drum 4 and rotates at the same speed. The drive gear 8 carries a co-rotating circular arced or gear segment 9 that is driving the gear 111 keyed on the shaft 42 of feeding-drum 2 via an intermediate gear or intermediate reduction gear 10 mounted on a shaft or spindle 43. The equally large pitch circles of the gears 9, 10! and 11 have been chosen smaller than the pitch circle of gear 7 on the impression cylinder 3. At the .moment of sheet transfer from feeding drum 2 to im pression cylinder 3 in order to maintain good register] during sheet transfer. At this moment of sheet transfer, 1 the gear train 7-13 originating from impression cylinder.

is all meshing together.

The accelerated and decelerated movement of the stopping or feeding drum 2 at starting and decelerating until standstill is controlled by a Maltese cross gear argrangement, generally indicated at M, which cooperates in a forme-locked way as a counter cam with a cam disk. Turntable 14 of the Maltese cross is fixed upon the boss of the intermediate reduction gear 10 which is shifted in. a periodically interrupted manner in uniformity with the feeding drum movement of half a revolution perwbrking sequence. Consequently, the Maltese cross drive Patented May 19, 1959 During the succeeding half arrangement carries two pairs of working flanks 15-46 and 17-18 and being straight line flanks extend radially and are positioned 180 apart so that they act alternately in pairs. Working alternately are driving flanks 15 and 17 with pusher roll 19 and alternating braking flanges 16 and 18 which work with braking roll 20. Pusher roll 19 and braking roll 20 have their mounting shaft centers located on the pitch circle of the tooth segment 9 and are positioned 120 apart on a. carrier disk 21.. In other words, the orbit of pusher roll 19 and braking roll 20 has the same size of radius as the pitch circle. of circular gear segment 9. Carrier disk 21 is shaped like a cam disk and is secured to the toothed segment 9 in turn secured to the driving gear 8 of the delivery drum. Both cam-like shaped working cams 22 and 23 on cam disk 21 are spaced apart 120, the same as the-rolls 19 and 20, and curve into the circular arclike shaped back portion 24 on the curve disk 21. The back portion 24 serves as a block disk and guide for the two guide rolls 25, 26 or 27, 28 at each standstill of the stopping drum 2 and the Maltese cross turntable 14. These guide rolls 25, 26 and 27, 28 are mounted so as to be eccentrically adjustable in front and behind the driving flanks 15, 16 or braking flanks 17, 18. The guide rolls 25' and 26 have their centers placed on the pitch circle of intermediate reduction gear and are separated from each other by 120 of arc. The guide rolls 27 and 28 also have their centers located on the pitch circle of intermediate reduction gear 10 and are also separated from each other by 120 of are. In other words, the orbit of rolls 25-28 has the same size of radius as the radius of the pitch circle of intermediatereduction gear '10. The intermediate reduction gear 10 is firmly connected with Maltese cross gear arrangement indicated at.M.

Upon starting. of the feeding-drum 2 by the driving.

Driving of the impression cylinder 3 is done by a worm gear 33'whose shaft 34 is located within a gear housing 35. which is built as a protection case and embraces the entire gearing; for the drive of the feeding-drum 2, thus rendering the whole structure oil tight.

In. the idle position of the feeding-drum 2 which acts as. a stopping drum, a spring-pressed, blocking roll 29 mounted ona pivot arm 29' falls into one of the two notches 30,, 31 in the blocking disk 32 fixedly mounted onthedrive gear 11 fixed on the shaft 42 of the feedingdrum 2. As can, be seen in Figure 1, each V-shaped notch 30 and 31 has oblique jaws. Upon starting of feeding. drum 2, the rearward or trailing'jaw presses each time against roll 29 and raises the roll 29 with its arm 29' that is spring-pressed. In Figure 1 the feeding-drum acting as a. stopping drum is shown as being started by means of pusher-roll 19 which engages with the driving flank. of the Maltese cross drive so as to drive the feeding-drum 2 during one-sixth of a revolution of the impression cylinder 3. Meanwhile, the guiding roll 26- cooperating with the descending shape on cam 23 serves on a counter cam.

As soon as the feeding-drum 2 reaches the circumferential, speed. of the impression cylinder 3, Le, at the culmination point of the pusher roll 19, see Figure 3, the first tooth of the tooth segment 9 meshes with the driving gear 10 of the Maltese cross turntable 14. During the following one-third of a revolution of the impression cylinderxS, the feeding-drum is thus driven by the train of gears 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 in a uniform rotating way. During. the transfer of the sheet to the impression cylinder 3 good register is maintained and secured by toothed segment 12 or 13 meshing with the impression cylinder gear 7.

As soon as toothed segment 9' on the shaft 44 of delivery drum 4 leaves intermediate gear 10, as shown in. Figure 4, the braking roll 20 cooperates with the braking flank 18 in order to slow down the feeding-drum 2 to standstill, all. of which occurs during a further one-sixth of a revolution of the impression cylinder 3. Meanwhile, the ascending shape of cam 22 meshes as a counter cam with the guiding roll 27 moving thereagainst as shown in Figure 5.

Upon coming to a stop the feeding-drum 2 and the Maltese cross turntable 14 have performed half a revolution, as shown in Figure 5. At this moment and for the subsequent one-third of a revolution of the impression cylinder 3, both guiding rolls 27, 28 rest on the cylindrical shaped back portion 24 of cam disk 21 until impression cylinder 3 and cam disk 21 have reached their starting. position. Upon this happening there commences the next working sequence at which the feeding-drum 2 performs a further half a revolution and the starting position shown in Figure l is again reached.

What I claim-is:

l. A drive for sheet feeding means of a printing press in: which a feeding. drum is periodically driven in the mannerof a stopping drum and feeds sheets from a feeding table to a uniformly rotating, impression cylinder, said. drive comprising a uniformly rotated circular arced segment means having a pusher roll and a braking roll mounted thereon respectively adjacent the ends of the arced segment means, an intermediate drive wheel intermediate said drum and said segment means and in driving engagement with said drum and said segment means in a part of the rotation of the complete rotary movement of the segment means in one direction of rotation, at Maltese cross drive portion affixed to said intermediate drive wheel and having a driving and a braking flank positioned for respective cooperation with said pusher rolland said braking roll mounted respectively adjacent the ends of said circular arced segment means for combing, engagement therewith in advance of and following driving engagement of said segment means with said intermediate drive wheel.

2. A drive for sheet feeding means of a printing pressin which a feeding drum is periodically driven in the manner of a stopping drum and feeds sheets from a feeding table to a uniformly rotating impression cylinder, said drive comprising a uniformly rotated circular arced gear segment means having a pusher roll and a braking roll mountedthereon respectively adjacent the ends of the arced. gear. segment means, an intermediate drive gear intermediate said drum and said segment means and in driving engagement with said drum and said segment means. in a part of the rotation of the complete rotary movement of the segment means in one direction of rotation, a Maltese cross gear portion aflixing to said intermediate drive gear and having a driving and a braking flank. positioned. for respective cooperation with said pusher roll and said braking roll mounted respectively adjacent the ends of said circular arced segment means for combing engagement therewith in advance of and following driving engagement of said gear segment means with saidintermediate drive gear.

. 3. A drive according to claim 2 wherein said Maltese cross. gear has two pairs of oppositely positioned drive flanks and braking flanks permitting a sheet transfer from feeding table to impression'cylinder in each half a revolution of .the feeding drum.

4. Drive mechanism according to claim. 2 wherein the driving and braking flanks-of the Maltese cross gear are open straight line flanks, and wherein there is included a camdisk rotating uniformly with the circular arced gear.

segment means and guide rolls mounted on and for rotation with the intermediate gear and positioned in front of and behind said flanks in the direction of rotation of said flanks and in position for engagement to be guided by said cam disk for controlling said Maltese cross gear in a forme-locked manner.

5. Drive mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the driving and braking flanks of the Maltese cross gear are open straight line flanks and including a cam disk rotating uniformly with the circular arced gear segment means and two pairs of guide rolls mounted for rotation with the intermediate gear, a roll of each pair positioned in front of and behind said flanks in the direction of rotation of said flanks and in position for engagement to be" guided by said cam disk for controlling said Maltese cross gear in a forme-locked manner.

6. Drive mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said guide rolls are eccentrically mounted on said Maltese cross gear.

7. Drive mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said Maltese cross gear is mounted on a turntable fixed to the intermediate gear and rotatable therewith about the axis of said gear and said guide rolls are eccentrically mounted on said turntable of the Maltese cross gear.

8. Drive mechanism according to claim 4 wherein the respective pitch circles of the intermediate gear and the circular arced gear segment means are smaller than the pitch circle of the impression cylinder and wherein the centers of the guide rolls are mounted on the pitch circle of the intermediate gear and the centers of the pusher and braking rolls are mounted on the pitch circle of the circular arced gear segment means.

9. Drive mechanism according to claim 5 wherein the respective pitch circles of the intermediate gear and the circular arced gear segment means are smaller than the pitch circle of the impression cylinder and wherein the centers of the guide rolls are mounted on the pitch circle of the intermediate gear and the centers of the pusher and braking rolls are mounted on the pitch circle of the circular arced gear segment means.

10. The mechanism according to claim 4 including a delivery drum positioned adjacent said impression cylinder for receiving printed sheets therefrom and wherein the circular arced gear segment means has the cam disk mounted thereon and said segment means and cam disk are mounted with their axis coinciding with that of the delivery drum and are driven with said delivery drum. 1

11. The mechanism according to claim 5 including a delivery drurn positioned adjacent said impression cylinder for receiving printed sheets therefrom and wherein the circular arced gear segment means has the cam disk mounted thereon and said segment means and cam disk are mounted on and driven by a shaft mounting said delivery drum.

12. A mechanism according to claim 10 including a drive spindle for said impression cylinder, a gear mounted on said spindle and meshing with a drive gear on and for driving said impression cylinder, said delivery drum being driven by said impression cylinder drive gear, an oiltight housing enclosing all of said driving mechanisms, a toothed segment connected to and rotatable with said feeding drum and positioned for combing with the drive gear of said impression cylinder during sheet transfer from feeding drum to impression cylinder.

13. A mechanism according to claim 11 including a drive spindle for said impression cylinder, a gear mounted on said spindle and meshing with a drive gear on and for driving said impression cylinder, said delivery drum being driven by said impression cylinder drive gear, an oil-tight housing enclosing all of said driving mechanism, a pair of oppositely positioned toothed segments connected to and rotatable with said feeding drum and positioned for combing with the drive gear of said impression cylinder during sheet transfers from feeding drum to impression cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

